Or at least that’s what Time Magazine seems to be claiming in this article.

One of the interesting statements in the article was that, “as recently as the 1960s, doctors routinely advised against rigorous exercise.” It appears that for getting and keeping weight down, focusing on nutrition is a better investment in time and energy.

Some of the claims in the article are hard to argue with, such as how exercise can increase appetite and that spending on health club memberships are up tremendously despite the fact that obesity remains high. But some of it is questionable–for instance, a study says Americans claim we are exercising more (to its credit, Time puts “say” in italics–“more of us at least say we exercise regularly”).

While the news that exercise won’t make us thin is surprising to those of us who have lost weight in large part through exercise, I’ll have to give it a closer look before laying into it.